Yingge, Sanxia

On Sunday I went to Yingge and nearby Sanxia, very famous for pottery and ceramics and I had a great time going around both towns. I did not buy any pottery--mostly expensive and/or hard to get back in a suitcase--but I was really digging the European architecture in that area.

Summary of a work on Taiwan architectural influences but I think the summary gets at the idea (scroll down for English): http://library1.lib.nccu.edu.tw:1478/bookDetail.jsp?id=94

And, went back to Taipei 101. Trying to go back every night of the week to see each different color. By the way, several locals here were surprised when I told them every night is a different color, they did not know this. I am not making it up. Thank you, Wikipedia. Went on Saturday and totally bummed to discover they TURN OFF THE LIGHTS at like 8:00 or 9:00. Let down. So wasted trip on Saturday but did catch violet on Sunday. Also still discovering new statues every time I walk around 101--here's a chess board on a street corner.

Tainan

Yesterday was an odyssey of temples. I went to Tainan in Southern Taiwan--it is the oldest city in Taiwan, and it used to be the capital. The temple heritage is huge. I took my guidebook's suggestion and visited about 15 different temples, and it was a very hot, very busy day. I'll show the highlights.

Thanks to the High Speed Rail, it's easy to go from northern to southern Taiwan and it only takes 2 hours. It is fairly expensive, a full round-trip ticket is about $85 USD. The HSR station in Tainan is about 40 minutes away from downtown Tainan, but there's a free shuttle--pretty convenient.

I started at Chihkan Tower and what I liked most is the nine stone turtles carrying Qing dynasty tablets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Provintia

Dongyue Temple was an experience to be had. People go to Dongyue to communicate with the dead through mediums, and I watched some of that. The murals on the wall have depictions of hell, and for whatever reason (ambience?) they've got a raging fire and coal pit burning in the side hallway. City God Temple, a stone's throw away, is where the City God tallies all of your good and bad deeds after you die. There is a huge abacus that he uses for that calculation, and when you enter the temple the big gold-plated sign translates to, "You've come at last."

Finally, more upbeat is Lady Linshui's Temple, dedicated to Lady Linshui who, along with her 36 assistants, is responsible for protecting children. This was a very crowded temple.

When in Rome...it was hideously hot all day and in Taiwan the way to beat the heat is with bao bing--shaved ice topped with condensed milk and hunks of fruit. And Tainan is known for danzi mian--noodles in tangy meat sauce, named after the two baskets and a stick used to carry the noodles around for sale.

Cooking Up Some Good Times

Hello pengyous, as you can tell I am feeling much better. I cannot believe I didn't tell you this but I believe it was last week that I went to a Taiwanese Cooking Class here in Taipei. The class was Introduction to Taiwanese Cooking and was four hours long! We went through a lot of recipes and different techniques, and I am totally geeked to try some of this stuff out at home. And it is too bad sesame seeds are so expensive in the US. Some of the dishes I learned include (English approximate) Spicy Pineapple, Homemade Soy Milk, Tofu, Sweet and Sour Soup, Sesame Paste Noodles, Taiwanese Dressing, Szechuan Spicy Pepper Oil, Eggplant with Ginger Dressing, Sesame Oil Cucumber, and Spicy Noodles. Ah yes, my other regret--and a much bigger one--is that I don't think you can (easily) obtain Chinese eggplant in the US. Which is why my solution is to eat it 3-4 times a week. Anyway, I will be on for the Dumpling class in two weeks and I am excited! (**Note: I have been told by some that this is not "real" Taiwanese cooking, once it was revealed that the soup base was made of tomato and pineapple instead of duck's blood. My yen for cultural translation notwithstanding, I am perfectly ok with this)

Speaking of culinary accomplishments, there's this street vendor near where I am that always has this line around the block, day and night, and I stopped one time and saw that they were making the ubiquitous scallion cakes--some combination of fried bread stuffed with scallions, or topped with scallions, or in this case stuffed with scallions with a fried egg on top. I finally got up the gumption to wait in the (endless) line and these things are so. good. Like greasy Taiwanese fair food. A+.

Another example:
http://en.tw.tranews.com/Show/Style203/News/c1_News.asp?SItemId=0271030&ProgramNo=A000203000002&SubjectNo=3232163&CityId=22



Finally, last Sunday I made the required trip to one of Taiwan's Hot Springs. Hot Springs are big here. You can go (like I did) to the cheap place where you pay less than $2 for some hot springs and some cold springs, or you can really make your whole trip to Taiwan into a leisurely spa event and stay at a hotel literally built around hot springs. Considering that it's still pushing 90 every day here, I was underwhelmed by the hotness of the hot springs but I acknowledge their probable attractiveness when it is cooler. And I did enjoy the cold springs. For the record, despite this picture there were plenty of people there even on an above-90 day, and I hear that is because hot springs have healing properties and improve your circulation. I'm sure they do. That's your heart pumping more blood to your head so you don't faint from the heat. I kid, I kid. Kind of.